We are all champions

Or so I am telling myself as I ended up pretty much at the bottom of the only pool I entered this year. On the other hand, I went to both the semifinal games and the final game on Monday night thanks to one of my college roommates who works at the NCAA. I tried my best to cheer Butler on to their first championship to no avail, but had fun nonetheless.

Congrats to the pool winners!

P.S. I am Chris and Jonathan's cousin wearing my team colors on the left.

This is the end. My little friend, the end...

Have I ever mentioned that I hate, hate, hate The Doors? (My otherwise sensible brother Jonathan loves them. He's just wrong. The Doors story: I'm drunk, I'm nobody. I'm drunk, I'm famous. I'm drunk, I'm dead. Yawn.) Anyway, on to the hoop...

Sad, now, that the tourney is over, it's time to wrap up. First, big congrats go to Matthew Peterson, The (New) Sage of Ithaca and Soon To Be Sage of Pittsburgh. That's some title, man, but you've earned it. Matt more or less lapped the field, with the rest of us straggling behind. And who, you ask, are those stragglers? Well, tied for second place are England Bill (and John Ford Coley, 'member those weasels, oldsters?) and Her Grace, Agnes Coyla Jackson. Bill is a past champ, so ending up at or near the top is nothing new for him, but this is Acy's best showing ever, I think. She's busy tonight, as it's the opening night of Romeo and Juliet (where Acy is the Nurse and Tybalt - I'm not kidding here). We'll celebrate her house championship (she killed Maggi, Alexander and me) in some appropriate way. What are the Rambeau Petersons planning to celebrate their Duke-like dynasty? And across the pond, will Bill be wearing ermine and carrying a scepter for his second place finish? Stay tuned to find out.

Now on to the accounting. Below is the final chart, filled with numbers that might or might not be accurate. Below that find a chart showing, well, nothing really, but does demonstrate my ability to make a chart in Excel.

Congrats to the top of the pile, and for the rest of us, a renewed vow to get them next year, eh?

with thoughts turning to baseball,

I remain,

Yours

Who has picked whom?

Gang,

We're winding it up here. Not many of us have any picks left at all. I don't mean to throw spoilers at you all, but Our Own Matt Peterson, The JFK of the Pool, has already clinched the victory. Congrats to you, Matthew. The championship is therefore going to the Rambeau/Peterson home for the second straight year; you'll recall that Sophie Mac walked away with it last year. These people are pushing the Prown/Coleman clan for the right to be considered the best family of pickers. Maybe that's a good side bet, who gets to wear the Von Trapp Family crown. The Jackson/Knotts are waaaayyy down the list.

Going into the last three games, I thought you might like to see who has picked whom in the Final Four and Championship games. Live picks are in red. Note, by the way, that Acy is the one one of us who has a Champion pick left standing, Duke. Out of 27 Poolies, 26 of us have no chance of getting the champ right. I can't ever remember that happening before, but I also can't remember where I left my shoes, so maybe that's not such a big deal.

Here's the chart, for those playing along at home. [cricket sounds here].

Later, dudes and dudettes.

xoxoxoxoxox,

C

With the Final Four all set...

Volks,

So, we've played 60 of our 63 games. I'm out, as are a bunch of us, but it's still Matt Peterson who leads, despite his grieving over the Cornell exit. Matt, Bill, Ruth, that's the Big Three. Dutch DeWitt and I will be out over the next few days with some fascinating info (like who has chosen whom in the Final Four) but until then, here are the standings:



Talk to you all soonish.

Cheers,

Co-M

Sunday's picks

Well, I have no more teams in the tournament, so from this point forward, I am performing services pro bono. You're welcome.

Here are tomorrow's picks:


5. Michigan State - Nobody [cricket sounds here]
6. Tennessee - My boy, Alexander, the budding hoop genius
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Kansas - thousands of us
3. Georgetown - Acy, Harry, Rosalie, Matt
2. Ohio State - Jonathan, Dana
4. Maryland - Liz


1. Duke - Acy, Bill, Steve, Dykes, Willow, Sarah P, Rosalie, John, Matt, Gena
3. Baylor - Tim, Dana, Cal
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Villanova - Knott, Maggi, Sarah B, Ruth, Harry, Mike, Scott, Dutch, Kate
5. Texas A&M - Alexander
4. Purdue - Dayle, Jonathan, Liz
7. Richmond - Henry


Safe pooling tomorrow.

G'night.

C

OK, now where are we?

Gang,

So, only my brother got the 4 points for the Butler win, and only Maggi (boo, hiss), Ruth, Dykes, Cal, Rosalie and Matt picked the West Virginia game correctly. I would've bet a lot that Kentucky was going to win that game, but that just shows you how little I know. About everything.

Here's where we stand:



Good luck tomorrow, everyone.

Sleepily,

CAK

Is it just me...

or does Huggins look like he's one of the lesser known Baldwin Brothers? You know, like, Zeppo.

Jonathan! Jonathan! Jonathan!

All of you out there without a brother who was the only one in the pool to pick the Butler win right, well, you can go pound sand. I have one, my bro, Jonathan, who got Butler right. So, J, dish, man, what did you see? What led you to make this gutsy choice? Surely it couldn't be hurried indifference and distracted guesswork...could it? Nah. We're all waiting to hear the secret.

Congrats, mein bruder.

Getting tired...

of seeing all those overweight baggage handlers. Not a good advertisement for the Southwest Airlines wellness program.

Saturday picks

Folks,

Only two games today. Feels like it's all winding down too soon. I don't see any way I can win, so my attention has already drifted to something else. I'm like that, I guess. Still, I'll be watching every second of televised hoop today I can get away with. We'll see how much that amounts to.

Here are today's picks:


5. Butler - Jonathan
2. K. St. - Knott, Dayle, Bill, Sarah B., Mike, Cal, John, Gena
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Syracuse - Maggi, Alexander, Ruth, Steve, Scott, Henry, Dutch, Kate, Willow, Sarah P.
8. Gonzaga - Acy
3. Pitt - Tim, Dana, Liz
7. BYU - Harry, Dykes, Matt
4. Vandy - Rosalie


1. Kentucky - everybody else
2. WVU* - Maggi, Ruth, Dykes, Cal, Rosalie, Matt
-------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Wake Forest - Acy
5. Temple - Dana
4. Wisconsin - Steve
6. Marquette - Harry
3. New Mexico** - Liz, Sarah P


Good luck out there.

CoMeister


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* People who picked West Virginia should expect a phone call from Steve, in which he will explain Bob Huggins's ability to coach teams to wins in the big games.
** People who picked New Mexico should expect a phone call from me, in which I will explain what a no-talent greasy weasel Steve Alford is.

Round 3, Day 2 results and standings

Various and Sundry,

Gee, what a wild Friday night. Maggi and I missed the games, because we were out seeing the Punch Brothers. If you've never seen them or heard them, they're awesome. More to the point, though, is that the two of us went somewhere together, and without offspring, for the first time in two or three centuries. Anyway, all we got were the final scores, really. It could've gone better for me and for the Big 10, but what else is new?

Well over half of us picked Duke to beat Purdue, although most of us were holding our collective noses. Only Bill, Tim, Dana, Cal, Sarah P. and Matt got the Baylor game right. Nobody picked Michigan State to win last night. And in the really kooky game, only Liz and Alexander picked Tennessee to get this far. I know why Alexander picked them; he thought the word "Tennessee" is funny, and likes saying it out loud. And Liz? Well, I'm not sure. What's the thought process, Ms. Rambeau? Care to let us in on your secret?

Below are the standings. Matt continues to leave, with Bill nipping at his heels. Lots of us are down to only a couple of teams left in, so there may not be a ton of movement out there. Here's where we stand:



Saturday picks coming soon.

xoxox,

C

No joy in Mudville

With 34 seconds left looks like the sweet sixteen is as far as we go. Good fun though.

bloggerific!

Thanks for the awesome reporting, Liz!! Those Cornell cool cats were very spunky compared to the 7 foot tall Kentuckians...

Tonight's picks

So, who's chosen whom tonight? I know you're just dying to know, so here 'tis. Enjoy.


1. Duke - Everybody else
4. Purdue - Maggi, Dayle, Jonathan, Dana, Liz
------------------------------------------------
5. TX A&M - Alexander, Sarah B. Cal
12. Utah St. - Harry


3. Baylor - Bill, Tim, Dana, Cal, Sarah P., Matt
10. St. Mary's - Nobody
--------------------------------------------------
2. Villanova - Everybody else
6. Notre Dame - Alexander
7. Richmond - Henry


9. UNI - Nobody
5. Michigan State - Nobody
--------------------------------
1. Kansas - Just about everyone, except...
12. N. Mexico St. - Alexander, Harry, Rosalie
4. Maryland - Liz


6. Tennessee - Alexander, Liz
2. Ohio St. - Dayle, Jonathan, Dana, Dutch, Kate, Willow, Sarah P., John, Gena
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Georgetown - Everybody else
7. Oklahoma St. - Cal, Henry


There, now you can keep score at home if you'd like. Let's all have a safe Round Three, Day 2 out there. Tonight's games are all worth three points, by the way.

Cheers,

CPM (co-poolmeister)

Thursday results and standings

Dear ones,

Seems like it's been all trauma up to this point: Kansas, Cornell, no Iowa. You know, catastrophes. That said, everyone is bunched up together, poolwise, and since our teams have all lost, perhaps we'll wind up that way, too.

Here's where we are at the moment:

The crowd was very red. Here we are after drying off. You can see that Matt does not have a CU shirt; instead he was wearing a shirt from Fat Matt's bbq in Atlanta (Thank you Katie Abbott!)

And that's it for my "oddball blogging." It was fun, but I must say watching basketball on the telly is more comfy and understandable. Also cheaper (although cornell messed up the ticketing so badly that our seats were free). Next year.... go pitt??

Light of Day

Got home at 2:30 this morning. Ithaca, being Ithaca, was lightly shrouded in snow. Up to get kids off to school by 7:45, UGH. Ben was astonished to learn that yes, the other guys were taller than Jeff Foote. All of them were taller than Jeff Foote. When he goes to CU basketball games at home Ben likes to sit in the front row and be in on the huddle (last game his friend Peter had his arm around Foote, in on the play).

Oh, Petersons and Rambeaux, we're all sorry

The Big Red did themselves proud, but tonight wasn't the night. Condolences.

8:19 2nd

38-30. Red having a good run chairs on the court. Red needs to stay loose. Nothing to Lose. My friend patty just texted to see if I like steves suit. That is a very patty thing to ask at this point in the game. Think it's turning around. Ryan whittman has 3 fouls which is bad but they are starting to hit their 3 s.

Half

Strategy for 2 nd half: legionnaires disease.

15:41 2nd

Timout. Get the chairs! The NBA players out there are making it look effortless. In a bad way. 34-21

2:54 1st

25-16 Kentucky. Cornell might benefit from some of that Lester Hayes stickum; they keep dropping the ball and did I mention the dunking? Can see the vein throbbing in coach donahue's forehead from here. Timeout and, you guessed it, chairs for the blue players. No big red fans sitting, so must stand up again. All chanting hockey chants: "You just suck you just suck we're gonna beat the hell out of you, rough em up --k em up, go C U"

That'll teach em.

4:42 1st

Gosh these kentucky sorts are awfully tall. They have some showy dunking moves that are hard to defend against. Luckily, I am surrounded by pointy headed Cornell fans who have some pointers for the team....

7:52 1st

Cornell had a strong start but ky is successfully pressing them. It's time out now and coaches bring chairs onto the court for the ky players while the big red stand. Score16-12 ky.

C U LEADS

Last Hope for Upstate NY

Syracuse is out! All the Orangemen here are cheering for Cornell now

Only Alexander and Henry DeWitt picked XU!

I tend to root against the religious schools, as you know, but I'd love to see XU beat K State. What are the, the Musketeers or something? Go whatever they are.

Only Liz picked Cornell to win. Go Cornell

I'd happily accept the loss of points just to see Cornell move on. F Kentucky, man.

Jonathan, Bill and Sarah B. get the Butler game right!!!

3 points for each of you. What in the hell ever possessed you to pick Butler? I'm impressed.

Live vs tv

The game looks v small here. Also it is hard to see past the WV coach who looks like slobodan milosovic in a black tracksuit.

Rain

So we got here and found Cornell will call. It was at the front of a slow-moving outdoor line. We stood in the cold, rainy line for about an hour before finally getting inside where Cornell will call had completely given up and were handing out tickets to anyone who came in. Hope Cornell does better at playing than organizing!

Crap, sorry, here's where we are at the moment

Fans,

I realize I totally neglected to post the standings after Sunday's games. I'm a gimp, my apologies. As you'll see, Matt Peterson, currently attending the Cornell game and being liveblogged about, is killing the field. Right behind are Sarah Prown, Bill O'Hearn, Ruth DeWitt and the lovely John Coleman. It's going to be a fight to finished, unless you're me, as I am already finished.

Here's where we stand. I'll update it as the night goes on:

Rank Name Day 4 Total
1 Matt 14 48
2 Sarah P. 12 46
3 Bill 10 44
3 John 10 44
3 Ruth 12 44
6 Dana 10 43
7 Acy 8 42
8 Gena 10 41
8 Knott 12 41
8 Maggi 10 41
11 Dayle 10 40
11 Dutch 12 40
11 Kate 12 40
11 Liz 8 40
11 Scott 12 40
16 Mike 10 39
17 Favs 10 38
18 Alexander 8 37
18 Dykes 10 37
18 Jonathan 6 37
18 Steve 10 37
22 Cal 6 36
23 Tim 10 35
24 Willow 10 34
25 Henry 8 33
25 Rosalie 8 33
25 Sarah B. 6 33
28 Harry 0 25

I love Liz Rambeau and her oddball blogging

Keep it up, girl. I want to know everything. Who gets the first hot dog? T-Shirts or other souvenirs on offer? Pep bands; Jaws theme or something Star Wars related? Dish, girl, dish.

Dryden

Passing through Dryden,NY, where Lincoln's second inaugural address resides. See how much you're learning?

On the road!

Those of you who know matt and me can attest to the fact that we don't get out much. So it's just exciting to be in the car without the three children. It's a rainy night in the southern tier and we're in traffic leaving Cornell, following more traffic up to Syracuse.

I say Cornell will win by 8. Matt predicts Cornell by 2 because "they must win by 2.". Some of you will recognize that he is making fun of his wife in that comment. We agree that Cornell may well be killed tonight.

Last night we had a call from the coach's wife, asking if we have our tickets. When matt said no, she called Steve, who was at PRACTICE, the night before DEBUTING In the SWEET SIXTEEN, to make sure he got that sorted out. So if we lose tonight it's because the coach was busy getting us our tickets.

When we moved to Ithaca ten years there was one fan in the stands, our friend pat leahy. When the Harlem globetrotters came to town (and sold out) the team had to practice in the high school gym. So there's lots of excitement around these parts. More soon!

IPhone blogging

Just testing. This technology is something else!

Big Day in Ithaca

HI all. I'm trying to do this new "blogging" thing I've just heard about. Matt and I will shortly be driving to Salt City (did you know that's what the natives call Syracuse, NY?) to watch some other game and then Cornell vs Kentucky! Watch for us on tv, we'll be wearing red. I am going to try and liveblog (!) from my iPhone; Mike assures me there's an app for that. Go Big Red!

Belated greetings from Oklahoma

Ok, let's see. After a string of days last week in the 70s that saw us working in the field, we were hit by a storm this weekend that dumped 6 inches of snow on us and knocked out our internet until moments ago.

So, let me catch up on hoops. How bad did Kansas slaughter Northern Iowa?

Oh.

Oh dear.

Back to gathering firewood.

Friends, Romans, Countrymen,

Lend me your bottle opener. Saturday was a wild day in the tourney, with three fantastic upsets. Nobody picked UNI to beat Kansas, nobody picked St. Mary's to beat Villanova, and only our own beloved Dana Duffy picked Washington to beat New Mexico. Why did she pick them? Well, she does have family in Washington State, but my guess is that she remembers Steve Alford's hair from his playing days, and knew that a fellow using that much product has to suffer at least some ill effects from it seeping down into his brain. That's my theory. Dana, what do you say?

With three of the eight games essentially surprising the field, it follows that not a lot of points were scored yesterday. Sarah Prown and Gena Zelenka managed to get 10 points, and are thus the Day Three Nostradamuses (is that the proper plural? I'm stumped, but this is my best guess, even though my spell checker doesn't like it much.) The rest of us ranged between 2 and 8 points, so there wasn't a ton of movement in the standings.

Will we have another wild day today? I hope so, even though it plays hell with my bracket. I love seeing the little guys win. I hope you're all planning a quiet day in front of the tube today. There's a lot of hoop to get through. After today, there are just 15 measly games left, I'll be mathematically eliminated, and we'll move away from email and to the blog exclusively. Let's hear from you all out there.

Talk to you soon,

Yours in Poolishness,

co-meister

Here are the current standings:

Rank	Name	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Total
1	Acy	13	15	6	34
1	Bill	12	14	8	34
1	John	12	14	8	34
1	Matt	15	15	4	34
1	Sarah P.	11	13	10	34
6	Dana	13	14	6	33
7	Liz	20	10	2	32
7	Ruth	10	14	8	32
9	Gena	10	11	10	31
9	Jonathan	15	12	4	31
9	Maggi	13	14	4	31
12	Cal	11	13	6	30
12	Dayle	11	13	6	30
14	Alexander	11	12	6	29
14	Knott	10	11	8	29
14	Mike	11	12	6	29
17	Dutch	10	12	6	28
17	Favs	9	13	6	28
17	Kate	11	11	6	28
17	Scott	10	14	4	28
21	Dykes	12	11	4	27
21	Sarah B.	8	13	6	27
21	Steve	9	14	4	27
24	Harry	12	11	2	25
24	Henry	7	12	6	25
24	Rosalie	13	10	2	25
24	Tim	8	13	4	25
28	Willow	8	12	4	24

Villa No Va

Sorry for everyone who had these fellows going a long way. It's been a tough tournament for Catholics. Who's left? St. Mary's, of course. XU. Anyone else? Notre Dame out, Georgetown out, Villanova out. I'm sure I'm forgetting some schools here. I'm ecumenical in my approach, I want all the religious schools to lose. Everything. All the time. Denomination makes no difference to me. I'm bighearted that way.

Sorry Nova buffs.

Cornell. Ever heard of it?: Day Two results and Round One standings

Ah friends,

32 games down, only 31 to go. It's seemed fast this year, hasn't it? The crush of the first few days is almost behind us. Yesterday, Day 2, was a little more typical than the upset-crazy Day 1. There are only three upsets yesterday, and two of those were 10 seeds beating 7 seeds, hardly an upset at all. The one supergroovy upset was goofy old Cornell taking a pretty good Temple team apart. Go Ivies. Not since the days of those good Penn teams about a decade (remember Bruce Lefkowitz?) have the Ivies had much to cheer about. Go Cornell.

Given that one real upset, there were only 17 points available yesterday. A couple of geniuses, Acy and Matt (both of whom picked before the games were actually played) got 15 of the 17 points. A bunch of the rest of you (Maggi, Bill, Ruth, Dana!, Steve, Scott, and John) got 14 points. The rest of us were, well, craptacular. Those of us at the bottom aren't miles behind (yet) but a few things have to break our way soon or no glory for us.

Liz remains at the top of the heap, but has been caught by her husband, with Acy right behind. It's going to be a good race at the top of the standings, and about 2/3 of the group is within easy striking distance.

Iowa wins the wrestling championship (again), I have about 20 hours of hoop to watch today and tomorrow, it's 65 degrees and sunny here in Maine. What could be better? (My picks could be better, but I'm not complaining. Much.)

After Day 2, then, here's where we stand. See below.

Let's all have a safe Round Two out there.

C

Rank	Name	Day 1	Day 2	Total
1	Liz	20	10	30
1	Matt	15	15	30
3	Acy	13	15	28
4	Jonathan	15	12	27
4	Maggi	13	14	27
4	Dana	13	14	27
7	Bill	12	14	26
7	John	12	14	26
9	Dayle	11	13	24
9	Cal	11	13	24
9	Sarah P.	11	13	24
9	Ruth	10	14	24
9	Scott	10	14	24
14	Rosalie	13	10	23
14	Harry	12	11	23
14	Dykes	12	11	23
14	Alexander	11	12	23
14	Mike	11	12	23
14	Steve	9	14	23
20	Kate	11	11	22
20	Dutch	10	12	22
20	Favs	9	13	22
23	Knott	10	11	21
23	Gena	10	11	21
23	Sarah B.	8	13	21
23	Tim	8	13	21
27	Willow	8	12	20
28	Henry	7	12	19

While you wait...

While you wait for the scores from Day 2, click the post's title link to read a story about a sport that really matters - wrestling - where my Iowa Hawkeyes have just clinched their third straight national championship and their 23rd in the last 35 or so years. Now wrestling (or wrasslin, if you happen to live in Indiana) may not be the marquee sport that hoop is, but maybe that's just because nobody can beat Iowa. Maybe.

Hoop results soon.

Day One results and standings

Freundles,

So, Day One is over and we're part way into Day Two. Where does the time go? Work, I guess, and sleep and toothbrushing and Guinness. Now that I type it out, that's a full day.

Anyhoo, it was an exciting opening day, no? 7 upsets out of 16 games, including 14 seed Ohio whupping up on Georgetown. If your bracket is now wrecked because GTown is out, don't fret, you're not alone. The Day One genius is Liz Rambeau (more on that in a moment), and for the first time in modern memory, picking all the favorites (the Favs pick below) would have landed you very near the bottom. Awesome.

As for scoring, remember that all the games where a 1-10 seed wins is worth 1 point. That's the 7 games won by the favored team, plus hte UNI, Wake Forest and St. mary's wins (9, 9 and 10 seeds, respectively. Feels like the St. Mary's pick should've counted for more than one point.) Three games were worth 2 points (Murray State, Washington and Old Dominion), and the Ohio game was worth 3 points. That makes 21 possible points.

Day One Genius Liz Rambeau picked 15 of the day's 16 games correctly, and finished with a gaudy 20 out of 21 points. Far behind her, with 15 points each are my brother Jonathan and Liz's hubby Matt. Now Matt and Liz co-habit, watch the same amount of hoop, read the same newspapers, and still, Liz has 33% more points than Matt. What accounts for that difference? Nothing I can see, with the possible exception that Matt really handicapped his own efforts by actually picking winners before the games had been played. You read that right, I'll wait if you want, Henry James style, to read that sentence again just to make sure you got it. Liz's picks came in this morning. Maybe I'm committing a serious post hoc, propter hoc fallacy here, but I suspect that picking winners after they've won gives you a leg up. Your witness, counselor.

Just kidding. We all know Liz is ramrod straight, unwilling to cut ethical corners, and utterly uninterested in basketball. In fact, I think Liz might be faintly embarrassed to win the pool, even though she'd be pleased as anything to beat her husband. I'm sure Liz will continue on her current 93.75% accuracy clip.

Slander aside, congrats to Liz and all the rest of you who picked well. I didn't do so hot, but it's just Day One. I'm not discouraged.

In a couple of days, Calvino and I will switch over to the blog exclusively, but until then, here are the Day One standings:

Name	Day 1
Liz	20
Jonathan	15
Matt	15
Maggi	13
Acy	13
Dana	13
Rosalie	13
Bill	12
Harry	12
Dykes	12
John	12
Alexander	11
Dayle	11
Mike	11
Cal	11
Kate	11
Sarah P.	11
Knott	10
Ruth	10
Scott	10
Dutch	10
Gena	10
Favs	9
Steve	9
Sarah B.	8
Tim	8
Willow	8
Henry	7

5 upsets in the first 11 games - it's Madness!!!

Man, my picks already stink, but who cares? Go Ohio, Murray State, St. Mary's, Old Dominion, even good old Northern Iowa. It's like a kid (or Dana, before she serioused up about the pool) pick bonanza.

Love this. If only we had some hint-o-crack doritos in the house.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

Get the ball! Get it! Get the ball!

Atta boy!